Bad Kissing in LA Sounds Perfect
by MagicFairyGirl8
Summary: Was he going to kiss her? Did she want him to? One-shot fix-it for the hotel scene in 3:22 To Love and Die in L.A. - you know the one I mean! So SPOILERS! Just thought I'd add my version into the mix. Enjoy and R&R please.


Disclaimer: Castle is amazing, but unfortunately not mine.

This is a fix-it for the hotel scene in 3:22 To Love and Die in L.A. – you know the one I mean, so minor spoilers for that ep but no further. I took some liberties with Kate's past, so things mentioned here don't relate to the events of Knockout – sorry if that confused a few people! Just think of it as going AU after this ep. I hope you enjoy.

**Bad Kissing in L.A. (Sounds Perfect)**

"Do you know what I thought when I first met you?" Castle asked.

"No." Kate replied. "What?"

"I thought you were the one mystery I was never gonna solve. Even now, after spending all this time with you I'm still amazed at the depths of your strength, your heart..." Kate smiled, flattered. "And your hotness." Rick finished, returning the smile but keeping his tone serious; he meant every word.

"You're not so bad yourself, Castle." She responded, meeting his eyes again. They sat in silence for what felt like minutes. Kate was close to losing herself in Rick's blue eyes, and in turn he was mesmerised by her.

Rick suddenly seemed closer, or maybe she had been the one to lessen the distance between them, Kate wasn't sure. Was he going to kiss her? Did she want him to? Of course she did. If Kate was honest with herself she had wanted it to happen for months, years even.

Time seemed to drag on and still their lips were yet to meet. She wanted to just lean closer and kiss him but she was scared. Kate Beckett wasn't scared of very much but being rejected by Rick Castle was something that terrified her. It had happened twice before, once at the Heat Wave book launch party and again just minutes after she'd ended things with Demming, before the reappearance of Castle's ex-wife (and publisher) Gina. And Kate really didn't want it to happen a third time, she didn't think her heart could take it.

Castle was clearly oblivious to her feelings for him... or maybe he just didn't return them. Had she misread the signs? Was three years worth of flirting and banter and trust and affection not, as Lanie insisted, the world's longest session of foreplay but purely friendship? Platonic friendship?

What if this was just a game to him, just a fling... or worse still, 'research' for his next book, finding out what Nikki Heat would be like in bed?

Kate bolted before she threw herself at him and then had to deal with the rejection. "I should go, it's late. Night Castle." She got up quickly, leaving him stunned. Fortunately Rick recovered just as quickly.

"Kate-" He said, getting up too and following her across the room. She paused a foot from her bedroom door and turned to face him. Rick moved closer.

"Can I be honest with you about something?" He asked.

"I don't know Castle, can you?" Kate responded, the smile showing she was only teasing. It faded when she realised how serious he looked.

Castle stepped closer still, so they were almost touching.

"I want to kiss you so badly right now." Her heart leapt up into her throat; did this mean he was being genuine? He felt the same way? She covered her uncertainty the way they always did – with humour.

"I'd rather you didn't kiss me badly. I'll settle for okay kissing but bad kissing-" She was cut off as he pressed his lips to hers, softer than she was expecting but with a passion that was undeniable.

"Hmm, better than okay but... needs work." Kate said when they broke apart. Castle opened his mouth to object but she continued before he had the chance. "Still, we've got all night..." He kissed her smile, harder this time.

"Your place or mine?" Castle quipped as they broke apart for air once more. Her door was the closest, in fact by now she was backed up against it.

"Mine." Kate answered, reaching behind her for the handle.

They stumbled into the room, hands and mouths exploring. Somehow Rick ended up falling backwards onto the bed, bringing an abrupt end to the kissing. He sat up, leaning back on his palms as he looked up at her. Kate blushed under his scrutiny, feeling like he was mentally undressing her as she stood before him, loving the way he made her heart race, even while the sudden change of pace highlighted the reality of what was about to happen.

Rick's hands reached for her waist, securing her between his knees as he tugged her top up over her head. He let the garment drop to the floor before his fingers curved round her hips, pressing his lips just above her belly button. A gasp escaped her as Castle's kisses travelled upwards, skipping over the red lace of her bra and traversing the curve of her breast. With his mouth otherwise occupied, his hands gently tugged her leggings off her hips and down her thighs, letting the material pool at her feet. Kate managed to step out of them and kick them away, her fingers making a mess of Rick's hair.

Castle pulled back, his arms supporting him as he looked up at her again. She was almost completely exposed, her body open to his appraisal. He was simply staring at her; it was like when he would watch her do paperwork only this was a million times more intimate. Kate wrapped her arms across herself, feeling self-conscious.

"You're so beautiful, Kate." Blush crept into her cheeks as she dropped her gaze. "Hey..." He sat up, brushing her bangs away from her eyes and stroking her cheeks with his thumbs, before pulling her face down to his so he could kiss her. "What's wrong? If you don't wanna do this we can stop-"

Kate shook her heard hurriedly. "No, I do. It's not that..."

"Then what..?"

"It's just..."

"What, Kate? You know you can tell me anything."

She exhaled, her heart throbbing in her chest.

"Why me?" She asked. "You're a successful, famous writer – a celebrity... why would you want me?" Her voice was quiet as she finished, meeting his eyes reluctantly.

Castle looked at her, incredulous. "Why would I want you? God, Kate – how could I _not_ want you? You're stunningly beautiful, sexy as hell, intelligent, strong, passionate, brave, loving... You're extraordinary."

"But I'm screwed up... I work too much, I live on takeout, my family is a broken mess... I don't know how to open up about what I'm feeling-"

"You think I care about any of that stuff? Besides, you are not screwed up!" Castle insisted. "Everyone has baggage, Kate." He continued, his tone softer, his fingers stroking up and down her arms. "It's what makes you, you."

"But you've... _dated_ actresses and supermodels... I'm not, like that... I..." She went on, squirming as Rick pulled her arms away from where she was covering herself, pressing more kisses across her torso.

"I don't want any of them... I only want you." Kate looked down, watching as his mouth moved reverently over her bare skin, across her ribs, up over her heart, along her collarbone and back down between her breasts to her stomach. His lips and tongue skimmed over the thin white line of a scar to the left of her belly button, then kissed the small marred circle of skin below her right breast where a bullet had once penetrated.

"Rick don't," Kate whispered, her hands on his shoulders, trying to move away but he held her firm. "They're disgusting-" Rick held her tighter.

"No they're not." He reached up and kissed her again. "Is this what you were worrying about? A few little scars?"

"They're horrible. You don't want-"

"How do you know what I want, Kate? They're just scars, they don't bother me. In fact, I kinda like them." Castle traced the long, thin scar with his finger. Her stomach muscles clenched beneath his touch but he didn't stop.

"Better than some flawless Parisian supermodel?" Kate asked quietly.

"Infinitely better." He assured her. "You know why? Because they're part of your story. They're proof of your strength, your courage, your selflessness. I think I'm even more proud of you than I was before you let me see them."

"Proud?"

"Mmm-hmm. Proud that I'm the one who gets to shadow the best detective in New York; that you chose me to be your partner, your backup; that I get to call you my muse – even if you hate me doing it – and I get to take all your amazingness and write about it, so the whole world knows how extraordinary you are." Castle's hands were resting on her hips as he met her eyes, holding her against him, the contours of her body fitting perfectly to his. They kissed again.

When Kate pulled back to take a breath, Rick raised a hand to brush away the tears that had started to fall.

"Kate..."

She took a deep breath; the expression on Rick's face and the way he spoke her name made her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest. He was still speaking.

"...I want to be with you. I know I annoy the hell out of you and I talk too much and watch you when you're trying to work and I never stay in the car when you tell me to, but... I care about you, so much, and I want us to be together."

Castle was so anxious that she was going to say no but relief flooded his whole body when her mouth broke into a smile.

"I want that too." Kate told him, dipping her head to press her lips to his. He responded harder and as the kiss grew more heated Castle let himself fall backwards against the luxurious sheets, pulling Kate with him. She nuzzled against his neck, trailing kisses up across his jaw, biting down gently on his ear lobe while working frantically to rid him of his shirt.

Soon they were both equally undressed, the final barriers between them removed and they were curled together, skin on skin. The way every line and curve of their bodies seemed to fit so perfectly to the other was incredible, and the intimacy of the first kiss they had shared weeks ago was multiplied, the connection between them undeniable, unbreakable. Kate's eyes fluttered closed as she surrendered to him.

For years, Kate had felt trapped inside the miles of carefully constructed walls she had built around herself, unable to breathe too deeply or venture too far away from the comfortable but lonely centre lest the whole structure come crashing down on top of her; but Rick Castle had, somehow, navigated a path to her heart, wrapped both hands around it and refused to let ago. The sense of release was extraordinary as every touch of his talented fingers, every movement of his hips against hers, every breath-stealing kiss on her lips left every inch of her body humming with pleasure.

"Kate... open your eyes..."

She did as he asked, meeting his gaze briefly before his lips crushed hers once more, capturing her gasp of his name as she finally tumbled over the edge of the abyss, pleasure radiating throughout her entire being. It was that word, his name, falling from her lips in ecstasy that finished him; not Rick, but Castle. Never before had anyone called him that, not like this, and he knew that no-one ever would... except her.

They kissed lazily as Kate lay curled into Castle's side, their hands interlocked on the pillow above their heads.

"Do you remember what you said to me, at the end of that first case? What you whispered in my ear before I had to watch you stride away... the sway of your hips hypnotizing me?" Rick asked, tracing the dip of her waist and the swell of her hip with his fingers, his eyes never leaving her face.

_That's too bad. We would have been great together..._

Kate smiled at the memory. It was so long ago now. She leaned closer, letting her lips brush the shell of his ear as she whispered.

"You have no idea..."

Her smile widened at the groan her words drew from him.

"Mmm... You were right. I had no idea..."

Kate kissed his mouth again.

"That was a long time ago." Kate said, voicing her thoughts. "So much has changed since then."

"Not everything though. You still amaze me."

"You still annoy me."

They shared a smile and yet another kiss.

"But there's still so much to know about you, Kate Beckett... and I want to know it all." His voice was softer as he squeezed her hand, pressing their palms together. "However long it takes, however dark it gets, I'll still be here."

"Thank you." Kate whispered. "I want you to know everything, to see all of me... I know I'm guarded about things... but I will let you in, I promise."

"You already have, Kate. And now I'm in, I'm never leaving. You're stuck with me, forever."

Another kiss.

"Forever." Kate agreed.

Castle tugged the sheet up over them, the cool night beginning to seep into their exposed skin.

Sleep had almost claimed her when he spoke again.

"So the first thing I want to know is-"

"Castle! Shut up."

Kate's eyes flew open as she felt his hands start to wander. He was smirking at her.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Castle!"

"When you call me that all I can think about is the way you said it just now, the way you looked, the way your body felt..." He told her, watching the blush on her cheeks; he wanted to kiss her again. "Whenever you yell at me at work this is all I'm going to be thinking about." His thumb travelled down the hollow of her throat, across her throbbing pulse point and down between her breasts, her skin damp with sweat, until he reached her navel. "And then I'll have no choice but to sweep everything off your desk and-oww!" Rick's hand closed around her wrist, trying to make her loosen the fierce grip her fingers had on his ear.

"Oww, apples, apples!" At last she released him; he was rubbing his ear which was now red and tingling. "Okay, obviously the desk fantasy is just me." He grumbled. "There's always the interrogation room and your handcuffs – just kidding, just kidding!" Castle added hastily as she reached for his nose.

"Do we need to talk about this Castle?" Kate asked, raising one eyebrow. "Ground rules?"

"You know I'm no good at following rules." He said with a grin.

"Do you know how long it's taken me to build up my reputation, to gain peoples' respect? I can't have you ruining all that just because you... can't keep your hands off me!" It had started off serious but she couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. His fingers tangled into her hair, guiding her lips to his.

"I need to... be serious... at work Castle..." She mumbled between kisses.

"Mmm... seriously gorgeous-"

"Castle!"

"I know... I can be serious..."

"But not too serious though..." Kate whispered shyly, even as her tongue salved his sore ear lobe.

"Not too serious." He agreed, groaning at the sensations her mouth was evoking, her teeth nipping at the sensitive flesh below his ear. Castle pulled her closer, her head pillowed on his bicep, her handprint warm over his heart.

"Thank you." She said quietly after a moment.

"For what?"

"For following me to L.A."

_I'd follow you to the ends of the Earth if you asked me to._

"For understanding why I need to do this."

"He was your mentor, your friend."

"He screwed up... and now he's paid for it with his life."

"Even so, he still deserves justice, and you need the truth." _And the closure; at least with this case, this wound will heal, in time. _

They lay still and quiet for several minutes.

"What happens now?" Kate questioned, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

"We sleep." Rick answered. "Then tomorrow we solve this case and go back home..."

"And then?"

"Then we go to work, catch killers, you do paperwork while I watch you do paperwork while picturing you naked-"

Kate swatted his chest lightly with her palm.

"Then I take you home to my place – or your place, providing your refrigerator contains actual food and not experiments of new life forms – oww!" Kate slapped him again, harder this time. He caught her hand, trapping her fingers between his as he lifted it to his mouth, kissing the pulse point on her wrist. "And then I ravish you – or you ravish me, whichever; I'm not fussy. Sound alright to you?"

She interlocked their fingers together as she stretched to press her mouth to his.

"Sounds perfect."


End file.
